Wondolowski earns third Player of the Week nod

With a four-goal outburst to close the regular
season, San Jose Earthquakes forward Chris Wondolowski came out of nowhere to
claim the Budweiser Golden Boot and also earned his third MLS Player of the
Week as voted on by the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR).

The storybook season of the former MLS Reserve League player
took a magical twist in Wednesday’s 3-0 victory over Chivas USA, after he
netted a hat trick off the bench to put him in a tie atop the MLS goal-scoring
charts with LA Galaxy forward Edson Buddle with 17.

Wondolowski then scored one last goal on Saturday night in
Kansas City to jump ahead of Buddle, who failed to find the back of the net on
Sunday in the Galaxy’s regular-season finale.

His 18 goals, an Earthquakes club record, have vaulted him
into the MVP race are more than half of the Earthquakes’ 34-goal
total. Nine of Wondolowski’s goals have been game-winners. He also set an
MLS record by scoring his team’s final 10 goals.

After starting on the bench in the midweek match-up against
Chivas USA, the Northern California native came on for an injured Cornell Glen in
the 40th minute and needed just 17 second-half minutes to put three
goals past the Goats.

Wondo's hat trick against Chivas USA

On Saturday, Wondolowski netted a 70th-minute sitter,
tapping home a Geovanni cross for a consolation goal in a heavy 4-1 defeat in
Kansas City. (WATCH the goal here)

The Player of the Week award was Wondolowski’s third in the
last five weeks, a reward for a blistering finish.